Author: Daniel Harding. Daniel is a recent graduate from UCL and Queen Mary’s University of London with a master’s in the history of political thought and intellectual history. He is currently an English language teacher in Phrae, Thailand. His main intellectual interests span the broad history of ideas.

Introduction

The idea of the “eternal recurrence” is one of Nietzsche’s most provocative and, at times, misunderstood concepts. While it often gets overshadowed by other parts of his philosophy, it’s crucial to understanding his worldview. The eternal recurrence suggests that everything in life—every moment, every experience—will repeat itself endlessly, exactly as it is. But what does Nietzsche actually mean by this, and why is it so important? Some scholars have tried to interpret it as a cosmological theory, but I believe it’s more of a thought experiment—an idea Nietzsche uses to challenge how we think about life, particularly in an era when traditional values, like those rooted in Christianity, are in decline. The eternal recurrence isn’t about predicting the future; it’s a tool to help us embrace life more fully, even in the face of nihilism, the belief that life has no inherent meaning. In this article, I’ll break down the idea of eternal recurrence, addressing the different ways it’s been interpreted and sometimes misunderstood. Then, I will argue that Nietzsche’s true aim with this concept is to provide a life-affirming perspective, one that can inspire us to live with more vitality and purpose in a world without religious absolutes. Ultimately, I’ll show why the eternal recurrence is not just an intellectual exercise for Nietzsche, but a core idea in his fight against the spread of nihilism and his vision of human flourishing in a world liberated from Christian metaphysics.

The Basics of Eternal Recurrence

The eternal recurrence of the same, which is first posited by Nietzsche in The Gay Science, first published in 1882, is the simple (at least at first glance) idea that the time and the events of our lives themselves will infinitely repeat themselves precisely as they have happened and have also happened eternally in the past precisely as they have in the future. In essence, the eternal recurrence of the same is precisely what it says: time, and the events attached to it, repeat again and again endlessly exactly as they have and will always happen. This notion is first provoked by Nietzsche as a thought experiment:

What if some day or night a demon were to steal into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it you will have to live once again and innumerable times again; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unspeakably small or great in your life must return to you, all in the same succession and sequence- even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust! (GS 341)

This passage is crucial to our understanding of what the eternal recurrence of the same is. It is perhaps Nietzsche’s most lucid and simple prose on what eternal recurrence is. Moreover, it is from here that we can grasp a fundamental understanding of the eternal recurrence of the same as it stresses the all-encompassing aspect of the eternal return: that our life and every single detail, emotion, and such will repeat itself precisely as it occurs now, has occurred before and will occur for the rest of eternity. A daunting vision here is set out by Nietzsche and how we interpret the significance of this claim depends on how faithful we believe Nietzsche to be with this claim in relation to his ideas on the nature of reality.

Scholarly Views and The Issue of Eternal Recurrence as a Metaphysical or Cosmological Truth

Paul Loeb is perhaps one of the only and last remaining modern scholars of Nietzsche who still claim his theory of the eternal recurrence to go beyond a mere exercise of thought and in actuality to be a cosmological theory that aims at finding metaphysical truth about the nature of reality. Loeb argues that scholars give Nietzsche a charitable reading of eternal recurrence by seeing it as a thought experiment or rhetorical device inclined to encourage people to affirm life and live authentically. Loeb’s view of eternal recurrence of the same as a cosmological thesis comes from a predominant reading of Thus Spoke Zarathustra as well as some of Nietzsche’s unpublished notes in which he sketched a proof for the eternal recurrence.[i] Löwith is apt in his understanding of Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence as an ‘ethical imperative’ rather than a ‘metaphysical doctrine’ from his discussion of it in The Gay Science 341 but argues that in his more mature conception of the eternal recurrence in Zarathustra, Nietzsche had developed his notion of the eternal recurrence not as a ‘hypothesis but as a metaphysical truth.’[ii] However, these attempts at discerning the eternal recurrence of the same as either being an attempt at discovering metaphysical truth or as a cosmological argument by Nietzsche are, firstly, lacking published textual evidence, and secondly rather irrelevant to the use of eternal recurrence in Nietzsche’s philosophy as they are unfalsifiable claims, which I will touch upon later. Early interpretations of Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence of the same that did emphasise the importance of it being understood as a cosmological, metaphysical or scientific doctrine have been diminished by modern scholars, such as Nehamas, who point to the fact that there is very little published evidence of a cosmological thesis in Nietzsche’s discussions of the eternal recurrence and that ‘this cosmology was philosophically useless to him [Nietzsche].’[iii] Nietzsche never published any writings which affirmed a metaphysical or cosmological truth to his doctrine of the eternal recurrence of the same, and thus it is best we understand the eternal recurrence as a Nietzschean idea that plays a practical role in his wider philosophy.

Subsequently, in assessing the eternal recurrence of the same and its supposed function in Nietzsche’s philosophy, I will take the eternal recurrence of the same as a thought experiment of Nietzsche as a means towards affirming life. This is because, as has been duly noted by scholars, ‘Nietzsche shows no interest in the truth of the recurrence cosmology, and apparently uses it only to formulate a practical doctrine.’[iv] Neglecting the cosmological or metaphysical claims presented by some scholars regarding eternal recurrence does not reject its significance and importance in Nietzsche’s philosophy. In fact, ignoring such claims and focusing on the practical elements, i.e., those not subject to abstract theories of metaphysics or cosmology, allows us to better understand the real function of the eternal recurrence for Nietzsche as a means of overcoming life, amor fati, and affirming life. Equally, it allows us to avoid getting trapped in abstract debates regarding the viability of the metaphysical or cosmological truth claims of the eternal recurrence, for instance regarding the notion of willing one’s past. The importance of the eternal recurrence in Nietzsche’s philosophy cannot be understated, as argued by Nietzsche himself. Nietzsche, regarding Zarathustra as his most important work, argues that eternal recurrence was the fundamental idea of the book. (EH III, Z I) Hence, the powerfulness of the eternal recurrence as a practical and creative imaginative tool is not undermined in light of the rejection of its metaphysical truth, and is furthermore propelled as a pragmatic doctrine conceptualised by Nietzsche to serve a greater purpose.

Eternal Recurrence as an Antidote to Nihilism

Nietzsche employs the eternal recurrence of the same as an antidote to the sickness of nihilism that, he believed, had permeated Germany in the nineteenth century. Nietzsche saw the eternal recurrence as a response to the pessimists and the Christians of his time, who he saw to be life-denying, and believed it was fundamental in his ideological battle against nihilistic strains of thought. Nietzsche saw himself and the eternal recurrence as his endeavour to ‘think pessimism through to the bottom and to redeem it from the half-Christian, half-German simplicity and narrowness with which it finally presented itself to this century, namely in the form of the Schopenhauerian philosophy’ which he sees as the ‘most world-denying of all possible modes of thought.’ (BGE 56) Moreover, Nietzsche promotes eternal recurrence as the principal method with which we can combat nihilistic thought, this is seen most aptly in his story of Zarathustra in ‘Of the Vision and the Riddle.’ At the end of this parable, Zarathustra cried to the shepherd to bite off the head of the snake that had crawled into his throat, which saved the shepherd’s life. Here, Zarathustra questions: ‘Who is the man into whose throat all that is heaviest, blackest will thus crawl?’ (TSZ III ‘Of the Vision and the Riddle’) Whilst the polemics and prose of Nietzsche often make extracting a precise meaning from his works challenging, if we are to see the snake as a representation or metaphor for nihilism in this passage then it becomes clear that the action of the shepherd in biting the head of the snake is symbolic of accepting the eternal recurrence and refusing to surrender to nihilism. Whilst this may seem a leap, there is actually a connection from this passage to Nietzsche’s first discussion of eternal recurrence in The Gay Science. Nietzsche describes the heaviness of the snake in Zarathustra, but also prefaces his first conception of the eternal recurrence with ‘the greatest weight.’ (GS 341) The allusion to weight and heaviness, as well as blackness, is perhaps symbolic of Zarathustra’s horror at his first consideration of the eternal recurrence or equally man’s own horror and burden from the so-called ‘death of God’ (GS 125) and its nihilistic consequences. In comparison, the heaviness and darkness of nihilism, represented by the snake, the shepherd is discussed as a ‘transformed being, surrounded with light, laughing!’ (TSZ III ‘Of the Vision and the Riddle’) The eternal recurrence is Nietzsche’s cure for the nihilism of his time as in light of the death of God, he uses the idea of eternal recurrence as a force to combat this ‘most intolerable burden.’ (TSZ II ‘Of Redemption’) Hence, the eternal recurrence of the same is Nietzsche’s first step in combating nihilism on his journey to affirm life.

Eternal Recurrence and the Individual

The notion that the life we live is that which have always and will always live is used by Nietzsche to provoke important and emotional questions on the individual understanding of existence. Its chief basis is perhaps to force the individual to question whether they would be happy to live life as they currently are for the rest of eternity. Having shattered the Judeo-Christian illusion of the nature of reality, Nietzsche is forced to fill the vacuum he has left, one in which nihilism has taken the temporary space. This brings us to Nietzsche’s ultimate task in positing the fundamental importance of the eternal recurrence as crucial towards affirming life, regarding it as ‘the highest formula of a Yea-saying to life that can ever be attained.’ (EH III, Z I) It is upon contemplation of the eternal recurrence that man is faced with the true horror of existence as ‘the threat of eternal recurrence brings out the basic horror in every life.’[v] The significance of the eternal recurrence as having the potential to shatter our existence or redeem it is clear in Nietzsche from his first conception of it: ‘Would you not throw yourself down and gnash our teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: “You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine.”’ (GS 341) From this, the eternal recurrence can ‘change you as you are or perhaps crush you.’ (GS 341) The eternal recurrence, is for Nietzsche, at once a source of redemption on the path towards creating an affirming life and a love of fate. This is because of the crucial concept of the creative will which serves a practical function in serving mankind as a means to redeem one’s life and does not necessarily have to be an argument about the metaphysical nature of the will but can be read as part of Nietzsche’s larger thought experiment regarding the eternal recurrence. It serves its foremost function in relation to the past: ‘To redeem the past and to transform every ‘It was’ into an ‘I wanted it thus!’- that alone do I call redemption!’ (TSZ II ‘Of Redemption’) This ‘I willed it thus’ is the act of the creative will and is furthermore a part of Nietzsche’s philosophy of the will to power. Whether Nietzsche believes that we can actually will the past, in reality, is irrelevant to the significance of his claim of the redemptive aspect of eternal recurrence. This is because it forces man to accept his past as though he willed it thus, i.e., to accept his fate as if it was what he wanted. By utilising amor fati, Nietzsche consequentially tasks man with the challenge of rebuking the crushing burden of life and the eternal recurrence in the grander task of creating an affirming life.

Eternal Recurrence and Amor Fati

This brings us to the most fundamental importance of the eternal recurrence of the same and its function in Nietzsche’s philosophy: its role as a life-affirming thought experiment. For Nietzsche, ‘the most living and most world-affirming man’ is the one ‘who wants to have it again [life] as it was and is to all eternity, insatiably calling out de capo not only to himself but the whole piece and play.’ (BGE 56) The man, like Zarathustra, who comes to accept the eternal recurrence of the same and its significance as if it were a metaphysical truth is one that contradicts the likes of Socrates. For Nietzsche, the Socratic mindset was guilty of denying life because its rationalism sought to overcome and transcend the chaos and menial suffering of the world through reason. In putting forward the eternal recurrence, Nietzsche is challenging man to not shy away from life and to not suffer the same fate as the Socratics. (GS 340) Seeing himself as ‘the teacher of the eternal recurrence,’ (TI ‘What I Owe to the Ancients’ 5) he asks man to live his life so that he will ‘crave nothing more fervently than this ultimate eternal confirmation and seal.’ (GS 341) In essence, Nietzsche is asking fundamentally: if the life you are living now and have lived were to recur eternally exactly as it was, would you be happy? Or would you be crushed by such a burden? The man who has truly contemplated the eternal recurrence and affirms life ought to be like Zarathustra: ‘“Was that-life?” I will say to death. “Very well! Once more!”’ (TSZ IV ‘The Intoxicated Song’ I) Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence is principally a method of teaching us to live a life that we would be pleased to live as an infinite loop. Perhaps, going even further it is a method to reenchant mankind with the world in the wake of the death of God and nihilism and thus to teach man to love life and will his way to living such a good life. Hence, the notion of the eternal recurrence of the same is Nietzsche’s attempt to force us to live affirming lives, i.e., to say ‘Yes’ to life and the world.

Conclusion

The eternal recurrence of the same is a fundamental idea to Nietzsche and serves a function of the greatest importance in Nietzsche’s wider philosophy. The idea that life, the world, and time, will endlessly repeat itself over and over again, and already has done in the past is a positioning Nietzsche takes to make us question how we do and how we ought to live our lives. As God nor death is to save us from the suffering of the world, we must live and will our lives as ones we would want to live for eternity. Whilst rejecting the metaphysical or cosmological truth of the eternal recurrence, the emotional significance of the idea does not become lost as ultimately Nietzsche presents man with his greatest and most important challenge: to affirm life.

Bibliography

Clark, Maudemarie. ‘Eternal Recurrence’ in Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) pp. 245-286

Kain, Philip. J. “Nietzsche, Eternal Recurrence, and the Horror of Existence.” Journal of Nietzsche Studies. No. 33 (2007) pp. 49-63

Loeb, Paul. S. “Zarathustra Hermeneutics.” Journal of Nietzsche Studies. Vol. 41, No. 1, (2011), pp. 94-114

Löwith, Karl. “Nietzsche’s Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence.” Journal of the History of Ideas. Vol. 6, No. 2, (1945) pp. 273-284

Nehamas, Alexander. “The Eternal Recurrence.” The Philosophical Review, Vol. 89, No. 3, (1980), pp. 331-56

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil. Translated by R. J. Hollingdale. (London: Penguin Group, 1990)

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Ecce Homo. Translated by Anthony M. Ludovici. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1911)

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science: With a Prelude in German Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs. Edited by Barnard Williams. Translated by Josefine Nauckhoff and Adrian De Caro. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Translated by R. J. Hollingdale. (London: Penguin Books, 2003)

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ. Translated by R. J. Hollingdale. (London: Penguin Books, 2003)

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[i] Loeb, Paul. S. “Zarathustra Hermeneutics.” Journal of Nietzsche Studies. Vol. 41, No. 1, (2011), p. 112

[ii] Löwith, Karl. “Nietzsche’s Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence.” Journal of the History of Ideas. Vol. 6, No. 2, (1945) pp. 276-277

[iii] Nehamas, Alexander. “The Eternal Recurrence.” The Philosophical Review, Vol. 89, No. 3, (1980), pp. 332-333

[iv] Clark, Maudemarie. ‘Eternal Recurrence’ in Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) p. 248

[v] Kain, Philip. J. “Nietzsche, Eternal Recurrence, and the Horror of Existence.” Journal of Nietzsche Studies. No. 33 (2007) p. 56

NIETZSCHE: The Eternal Recurrence

https://www.philosophizethis.org/blog/nietzsche-reading-list

https://www.theclassicalmind.com/p/thus-spake-zarathustra-by-friedrich

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche